Produce an ‘inline literal’ expression, suitable for using in an INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement.

When using Alembic in “offline” mode, CRUD operations aren’t compatible with SQLAlchemy’s default behavior surrounding literal values, which is that they are converted into bound values and passed separately into the
execute()
method of the DBAPI cursor. An offline SQL script needs to have these rendered inline. While it should always be noted that inline literal values are an
enormous
security hole in an application that handles untrusted input, a schema migration is not run in this context, so literals are safe to render inline, with the caveat that advanced types like dates may not be supported directly by SQLAlchemy.

The environment can also be configured to attempt to render “literal” values inline automatically, for those simple types that are supported by the dialect; see
EnvironmentContext.configure.literal_binds
for this more recently added feature.

This method is normally used to add new operations to the
Operations
class, and possibly the
BatchOperations
class as well. All Alembic migration operations are implemented via this system, however the system is also available as a public API to facilitate adding custom operations.

Indeed, closer inspection reveals that allegations of Mennonite hardship are often complaints that Nazism did not live up to its potential. If only the Eastern Front had held; if only religious reform had been more thorough; if only welfare programs were more generous—then Mennonite life would have been easier. Even the Holocaust and other persecutions are said to have “occasioned much disappointment among Mennonites.” This may be true. But note how the author chooses to emphasize the “disappointment” of Aryans, not the actual enslavement and slaughter of Jews. Despite the fading of his own initial “euphoria” for Germany, he could remain “deeply grateful.”

Mennonite authors and editors should think carefully before writing or printing pieces about the Third Reich. This is an important topic and requires our attention. But we must approach it in ways that do not recapitulate racism. Even those of us with good intentions need to be wary. In April, the cover story of a major denominational magazine laudably covered Mennonites and the Holocaust; yet in her introduction, the editor blithely compared Mennonites murdering Jews to Jews murdering Jesus—arguably the single most injurious trope of Christian anti-Semitism. Proofreaders apparently saw no problem with invoking “the crowd that yelled ‘Crucify him!’”

A few rules of thumb might be helpful. If you are discussing Nazism or the Holocaust, consider how someone from a different background might react—particularly if you are defending actions by your own group. Second, be aware of contextual differences: refocusing from the Holocaust to Soviet atrocities erases the specificity of Jewish genocide. Finally, when evaluating suffering, do not discriminate. While Mennonites have faced many difficulties, they never suffered alone. Nor were they always victims. Anabaptists, of all people, must surely grasp that violence can permeate even the most peaceable of cultures, a process we should understand but never justify.

Ben Goossen is a historian at Harvard University. He is the author of
Chosen Nation: Mennonites and Germany in a Global Era
, published in 2017 by Princeton University Press.

The beauty of old and rare books is that through studying some of them we can learn not just about the ideas of the writer, but also the life of their reader.
We are fortunate in the Menno Simons Historical Library to have some rare books that give us an insight into the work of Dutch Mennonites in the eighteenth century. These books were given as prizes to children who did well in their catechism classes. The prize encouraged children to learn scripture and the books that were given taught them about the faith of the Mennonite church. Topics ranged from martyr books to histories of the Bible and Mennonite doctrine. We have at least eight examples of prize books in our collection, and I will highlight a few here.

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